masonfisk

Jet Li stars in this Shaw Brothers film from 1986. Li is a monk who's diligently studying his craft only causing a fuss on occasion (he secretly kills a snake, cooks it & stuffs the meat into his brothers' hot buns to eat) but when he hears the new ruler, who killed his family, is about to have a lavish, public gala as a celebration, he jumps (backflips?) at the chance to get his revenge even disguising himself as the head of a ceremonial parade animal. What he doesn't count on is a couple of freedom fighters, a man & a woman, have gotten the same idea & also attack. They fail & in the ensuing melee they scurry into the wilderness donning guises as they stay afoul of soldiers to hopefully get another chance at vengeance (which they do on an imperial barge) at film's end. Great to see an early Li performance as directed by Lau Kar-Leung who uses Li's physical dexterity & speed to great effect w/the gorgeous vistas of the countryside & even the Forbidden City to bolster the production value. A little too much hilarity mars an otherwise solid actioner but if that's your cup of tea, sip it.

The seventh film in the series still playing in theaters. Using 1993, the year the first film came out, as a point in history, we're 32 years into a planet where dinosaurs have been commonplace (the ones north of the equator have died off due to the lack of rich oxygen missing in our quadrant w/what dinos remaining existing in areas replete in O2) which sets up our tale where a corporate type, Rupert Friend, needs 3 samples from dinos which may spur medical breakthroughs. Friend secures Oscar nominee Scarlet Johannson's services (she's a professional go-getter) who corrals a small group to travel via boat, captained by Oscar winner Mahershala Ali, to head to an island where the initial dino experiments occurred. Also along for the mayhem is a travelling family, led by Lincoln Lawyer's Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, who gets caught up after some beasts upend their boat leaving both parties to achieve their goals while the dinos have their own say about it. Vastly improving over the last 2 entries, which felt like CGI showcases w/stories draped over them, you have a strong director, Gareth Edwards (Rogue One/Monsters) working w/returning scripter David Koepp (who penned the first 2 Parks), leaving the film to move & click away like it should keeping the basic ingredients in place for this adventure to be as successful as it is which begs the question for the eventual follow-up, what's next?

A 2025 documentary currently streaming on Netflix recalling the tragic but avoidable loss of the Titan submersible which claimed 5 lives back in 2023. Mounted by a foolish billionaire w/a delusion of making trips to the Titanic as a commercial venture, one Stockton Rush, quite literally blew up in his face (& unfortunately 4 others) even though there was evidence from experts (the bulk of the talking head interviews) as the film breaks down the slow but inevitable lead up to the unthinkable. Not really my cup of tea in most cases but having seen a 60 minutes excerpt featuring Oscar winner James Cameron (who knows a thing or two about the Titanic since he made the film & made numerous trips via sub to the derelict vessel) was interviewed at length about the tragedy piqued my interest which was a sobering watch w/surprising copious footage (since Rush hired a video crew to document his journey) leading up to the event which will either catch you in the throat by its inherent drama or overwork your neck by how many times you shake your head in disbelief.